Good price for 1x12 S4S Cherry?

[AceHoleInOne]

Well the mills want to get paid for every particle of wood and I get that. Wood is market priced sorta like gasoline and lobsters. As Dwacker suggested s4s is paying for the wood cleanup to make into s4s. That cost money in addition to raw lumber cost.

 

I'm not that fussy with the calculations. The key is to buy wood when its cheap. And has been a buyers market. Wood prices are going to be inching up soon and already has.

 

If you have a good business relationship with your wood guy/gal....yeah there is some give and take!

 

Thats just me.

 

-Ace-

[rodger.]

Do any of you check the board feet in a board before buying it? The mill I buy at sells most of the hardwoods surfaced 2 sides and one edge straight line ripped. 4/4 stock is 13/16 for the trades or 3/4 for the public. I have watched the guy grading the wood after if is planed. Length is eyeballed against foot marks along the table, width is measured with his grading stick which has tables that give him the board feet. He marks the bd ft on the plank and then sends it through the straight line rip saw.

Measure the widest part of a board times the length and use the full thickness before planing, then compare that to the bd ft on that piece. Your paying for the scrap ripped off by the straight line as well as the thickness planed off. And the bd ft is a quick eyeball estimate in the first place. He is never off by much but it is usually in the mills favor if he is.

I always take a calculator, flashlight, tape measure and notepad when I go to pick wood for a project. My grandfather taught me to always leave a stack of lumber neater than it was when you got there. That goes a long way with the staff where ever you get your wood.

I agree. I always have a calculator, block plane, and tape with me.

The other day I counted 23 bf of 8/4 walnut, and then the guy measured it out as 26 bf. If it was inexpensive, I would have let it go. The Walnut was about 7 dollars a bf, so it was a significant amount of money (21 dollars).

The guy at the cash happily remeasured it, and charged me the proper amount. It always pays to double check!

I also agree with leaving a neat lumber stack. The lumber guys notice this for sure, and are more likely to give you a break if they know you are not making extra work for them.

[dwacker]

Most people don't know to call BS on cupped boards. For example your buying a 12" wide 4/4 rough board but it has a 1/16" cup that board can't be sold at a wide board premium. It has to be sold at the same price per bf as a 6" or sold as 2/4 rough.

Charging for waste off a straight line widest section is illegal. Strait lining is part of the nominal milling and should be measured at the narrowest part of the board.

The rule is. When you buy a board not sold as a slab it should measure the advertised nominal dimension. So if you buy a rough 8' by 8" by 1" it should be able to be milled to a 7.5 wide by 3/4 thick by 8' long. The length requirement only exist if the length is advertised which its usually not.

Dont pay for cracked ends. Dont let crooked lumber yards get away with ripping you off. That's the easiest way to save money on lumber. And for those that are buying 7/8 and 13/16 call these places on the carpet. Nominal thickness milling is 3/16" .

[ChetlovesMer]

I'm in PA and if I recall correctly I can get s4s cherry 4/4 up to about 9"wide for $4.95 a board foot. In the rough I think it's $3.85. I can also get air dried cherry for about $3.00 a board ft in the rough from a local sawyer. If I read your post correctly your place is selling for $11.45 a board ft?

This is pretty much exactly what I pay out here in central Iowa.

 

Although, it's about 7 bucks for 8/4 and 9 bucks for 10/4 s4s... more or less.